The Conservation Travel Africa Story
About Conservation Travel Africa
Conservation Travel Africa offers genuinely ethical volunteer projects that create real, lasting impact. Our projects are life-changing experiences for extraordinary people.
Founded by a team with decades of experience living and working in Africa, Conservation Travel Africa volunteer programs connect passionate travellers with ethical conservation projects that genuinely make a difference.
Our Vision
Our vision is simple: to help restore Africa’s wildlife and wilderness areas to their former abundance.
We support carefully selected grassroots organisations working on the front lines of conservation. By partnering with ethical projects that prioritise both wildlife and local communities, we help ensure that people and nature can live and thrive together.
Why We’re Different
We choose our partners carefully and only work with organisations that share our values.
Our team has all lived, worked or volunteered across Africa, giving us first-hand experience of conservation projects and their challenges. These personal connections allow us to identify trustworthy initiatives where volunteers can make a genuine contribution.
Rather than offering many programs, we focus on a small number of carefully selected projects that meet our ethical and conservation standards.
Travel With Purpose
Our projects allow travellers to go beyond traditional safaris and experience Africa with purpose.
Volunteers contribute their time, skills and energy to support conservationists, researchers and community leaders working to protect wildlife and improve livelihoods. Along the way, volunteers gain hands-on experience, learn from local guides and wildlife experts, and build meaningful connections with the people protecting Africa’s natural heritage.
Our projects allow people to travel with a purpose and engage in new physical and cultural experiences.
A Journey That Changes You
Volunteering is not just about giving back — it is also an opportunity for personal growth. Time spent in Africa’s wild landscapes offers space for reflection, learning and connection. Volunteers leave with a deeper understanding of conservation, new friendships and a renewed sense of purpose.
How it all started
In 2012, four African-born friends with backgrounds in tourism realised a need to highlight not only the beauty of Africa, but also its challenges. Harnessing their passion for wildlife, they set up Conservation Travel Africa. The goal was to enable travellers to immerse themselves in ethical conservation projects and gain a deep understanding of the challenges facing Africa’s wilderness areas. Our ethical volunteer projects allow you to experience the real Africa in a sustainable and positive way.
Where we are now
Our projects enable people to experience Africa differently. With Conservation Travel Africa, you are not just a bystander appreciating Africa’s beauty – you are a part of the solution. Through our programs, you can be confident you will play a role in supporting projects dedicated to long-term conservation strategies. Get involved and combine genuine, impactful volunteer work with extraordinary wildlife encounters and inspiring cultural exchange.
What makes Conservation Travel Africa unique?
We are committed to only sending volunteers to projects we have visited personally. This ensures we know first-hand the work that is being done and the impact volunteers have. Our ethos is not to simply sell a project, but to have experienced it ourselves. Everyone in our team has lived, volunteered and worked in Africa. Our varied experience and insider knowledge as project managers, researchers and conservationists means we are best positioned to match your personal goals with the most positive experiences. We will take you beyond a simple volunteer trip.
Join us on a life-changing journey.
Our volunteer projects
Through our network of partners and with our varied experience working throughout Southern Africa, we have access to some of the most spectacular and unspoilt wilderness areas, home to some of the world’s most vulnerable wildlife. This includes rhino conservation in Zimbabwe, diving with whale sharks in the breath-taking waters of Mozambique, working with animal victims of the illegal wildlife trade in Malawi and monitoring wild dogs, cheetah and leopard in South Africa. We have a project where you will definitely be of assistance.
Our goal is to ensure that you achieve your personal life and travel goals, experience Africa like a local, contribute to community upliftment, and preserve wildlife and wilderness areas. View our ethical volunteer projects.
Our people
It is definitely the people that make a company. We are proud of our dedicated, well-travelled and diverse team, based across Africa and beyond. They bring a wealth and variety of travel experiences, career and educational qualifications, and life skills, plus a passion for conservation, for Africa and for ethical travel experiences.
Our partners
The organisations we support are our partners, not simply providers of volunteer projects. We work with NGOs, charities and conservation organisations, staffed by reputable individuals. Our programmes are run under the guidance of eco-tourism operators, professional guides and internationally recognised conservationists.
Our mission
Our mission is to connect responsible travellers with wildlife conservation programmes and community projects, to provide life-changing journeys that have a genuine impact.
We are the ethical travel Africa experts.
